Speakers

Nitin Natarajan, Deputy Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security

Nitin Natarajan was appointed as the Deputy Director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on February 16, 2021. Prior to joining CISA, Natarajan served in a variety of public and private sector positions spanning over 30 years. 
Most recently he served as a consulting firm executive, providing subject matter expertise on a variety... of national security topics. Natarajan also held a number of federal government roles, including Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of Critical Infrastructure Policy at the White House/National Security Council, and a Director at the U.S. Health and Human Services overseeing healthcare and public health programs. 
At the beginning of his career, Natarajan spent 13 years as a first responder in New York, which included service as a flight paramedic. He was the Commander of a federal medical response team based in New York and has extensive experience deploying to natural and man-made disasters throughout the nation. 
He holds an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York and a graduate degree from the United States Naval Postgraduate School. 
 more

Luay Baltaji, Principal Security Architect, National Gas Transmission

Luay is the Principal Security Architect at National Gas Transmission, where he leads the technical design and delivery of OT security solutions, he also chairs the IDAM OT Expert Group (RITICS IDAMEG) at the UK's NCSC. He started his career as an automation engineer at a SCADA vendor and after completing a masters degree in Cyber Security, Luay moved to KPMG... as an OT Security Specialist. Over the past 14 years, Luay has worked as a technical lead and advisor on some of the world's largest OT security transformation programmes, including at Shell, bp, Siemens, National Grid and Iberdrola.  more

James Mockford, Cyber Security Operations Lead, Wessex Water

As Cyber Security Operations Lead at Wessex Water, I oversee daily cyber security operations across our IT and OT environments. My background primarily lies in OT-focused cyber security, particularly in red team operations. I specialize in identifying vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure and crafting tailored IT and cyber security solutions to safeguard... these essential systems and assets.more

Bec McKeown, CPsychol, Mind Science

Bec McKeown is a Chartered Psychologist with twenty years’ experience of researching and evaluating human performance in high-risk, high-stakes organisations, including the UK Ministry of Defence.  The knowledge and insights gained from this research has given Bec a unique perspective on the ways humans behave when working in complex, uncertain and ambiguous... environments.  She is an experienced speaker and thought leader on the psychology of human performance in cybersecurity.In 2019, Bec established Mind Science, an organization dedicated to assisting companies at both operational and strategic levels. Her primary focus is to reduce risk and enhance resilience for teams operating in complex environments. She does this by leveraging psychological principles to enhance situational awareness, decision-making, problem-solving and building high-performing teams.  With a proven track record, Bec continues to make significant contributions in shaping the landscape of human performance psychology.more

Ian Thompson, Head of Cyber Threat Intelligence, BP

Ian was born in Hull, East Yorkshire. After receiving a degree in Computer Science, he joined a central government department in a cyber position, where he worked for twelve years in operational roles in defense and national security. His time there included multiple deployments in support of military operations to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa.   
Ian... was embedded within a US government department based in San Antonio Texas as the senior UK liaison officer and lead for intelligence analysis and tradecraft development, when he joined bp’s Cyber Defense team in Houston in September 2017. His initial role was to manage and help develop bp’s response to cyber emergencies. He developed a cyber intelligence strategy and was appointed head of a new cyber intelligence team at the start of 2021.   
Ian has since transferred back to the UK and now lives in Lincoln with his wife and youngest of four children (he sleeps on his houseboat on the River Thames when working from the office). He is an advisor for an AI company, enjoys participating at speaking events. Ian is passionate about organization management strategies, especially empowering people and improving cross team working to enhance performance. He is focused on using his passion to help drive the digital security mission forward.more

Charlie Kemp, Cyber Security Risk and Compliance Analyst, Manchester Airports Group

Charlie Kemp is a Cyber Security Risk and Compliance Analyst at Manchester Airports Group (MAG). Leading on Critical National Infrastructure Regulatory compliance activities such as Network Information Systems Regulation and Department for Transport’s Aviation Security Cyber Regulations for all three of MAGs airports, reporting directly to the Director of... Privacy and Cyber Compliance. Prior to Risk and Compliance Charlie worked in MAGs in house Security Operations Centre and is an ISO27001 Lead Auditor.more

Javvad Malik, Lead Security Awareness Advocate, KnowBe4

Javvad Malik is the Lead Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4 and is based in London. Malik is an IT security professional with over 20 years of experience as an IT security administrator, consultant, industry analyst and security advocate. He is also a multi-award winner and is currently a Guinness World Records holder for the most views of a cybersecurity lesson... on YouTube in 24 hours.Malik is passionate about helping people understand the value of cyber security and how every department and individual can play their part. He often educates his audience through blog posts, videos, podcasts and at public speaking events. Malik holds the SACP and CISSP certification.
 more

Tom Exelby, Head of Cyber, Red Helix

Tom joined Red Helix following a distinguished 15-year career in the British Army. During his service he developed a robust skillset in risk management, leadership and strategic planning. He now brings these skills to the private sector as our Head of Cyber Security.   Bringing a fresh perspective to cyber security thought leadership, Tom has broad... experience from bomb disposal, NATO and procurement roles. Throughout his career he has delivered security and risk management consultancy services to a wide variety of different customers. This includes programme management in complex and hostile environments.   At Red Helix, Tom oversees the strategy to deliver effective cyber security solutions, ensuring we are providing the best-in-class service. He helps business leaders to understand and manage cyber risk, securing their operations and enabling growth.  more

Nick Palmer, Senior Solutions Engineer, Censys

Nick Palmer is a security IT professional with over two decades of experience in Information Technology and Cyber Security. Nick is a cyber security technologist, security advocate and business problem solver. Previously he has worked for a variety of industry leading companies including: Attivo, Microsoft, TrapX Security, HP. In his role with the technology team... at Censys, he helps customers uncover threats and vulnerabilities before they become risks.more

Emily Hodges, COO, Risk Ledger

Emily Hodges is Chief Operating Officer at Risk Ledger, a UK-based startup working to secure the global supply chain ecosystem. With a background in mathematics and cryptography, Emily spent a few years in PwC's cyber security consulting practice before starting a new consultancy aimed at using human understanding to make tangible improvements to security. She is... now driving a step change in supply chain security, challenging the status quo with Risk Ledger.more